Mike Pulsifer Photography mike-pulsifer.org

28Mar/100

Timeline 3D: A Review

If you're a Mac user like me, you might be aware of those software bundle deals like Mac Heist and MacUpdate Promo.  I bought the promo bundle last year, which gave me $500 of legit, full-featured (not demo) software for $50.  It's hard to beat that.  This year's bundle wasn't as impressive dollar-wise ($376-worth of software for $50), but what caught my eye was Timeline 3D from BeeDocs.  Normally, this is $65.  That's $15 off just for buying it in the bundle.  There's some other cool stuff in the bundle that I'll surely make use of, but what I'm writing about today is Timeline 3D.

What really caught my attention with Timeline 3D was its ability to export to Keynote.  If there's one thing that I find most difficult in designing slides, it's putting date-based information (e.g. a timeline) in a slide format that is easy to read and understand and also professional looking.  When giving presentations about the status of a project, this can be a very real and daunting challenge.  Often, people will just copy and paste from Microsoft Project.  The problem is, these are difficult to read and understand, likely to create map shock, and frankly, don't look professional.  This is where Timeline 3D steps in and makes, in my opinion, a valiant effort.  If that doesn't sound convincing or you think I'm advising against this software, read on.  As with anything, the answer to whether you should use this for your timelines is "it depends."

Creating a new timeline

Getting Started

When you first launch Timeline 3D, you're presented with an impressive selection of themes and data import options.  Since your slide designs will likely not match what this software offers, the themes are a decent starting point, but not as important as the import options.  Timeline 3D gives an amazing set of options, including importing from Basecamp, iCal, and RSS feeds.  You can, of course, just work from a blank timeline if you wish.

Adding events is quite simple.  Just make sure that in your date settings that you have the format chosen that works best for your events.  For example, if the day isn't of concern to you, make sure you choose the appropriate format or else the software may yell at you for having an improperly-formatted date.

Visually, what you get is quite impressive.  You can even assign images to your events to reinforce the point.  A nice touch is the ability to pull images in from iPhoto using the built-in "Photos" panel.  However, keep in mind the size of the images when you insert them.  Resize them down to an appropriate size when you can to avoid corrupting your timeline file.  When building a timeline for my day job, I didn't resize my images, many of which were quite large, and my data file edged over 11 MB in size.  At this point, the document became unusable and my system unstable (Timeline 3D trial, 20" iMac w/Snow Leopard & 2 GB of RAM).  After closing the application, I could not reopen the file.  I couldn't even open it on my MacBook Pro (Timeline 3D fully registered, Snow Leopard, & 4 GB RAM.  The file, along with a whole morning's worth of work was toast.

Events with date ranges

Another issue I ran into was the lack of customization.  Though you can change fonts and colors, you're stuck with very thin lines to represent the date ranges of your events.  This makes it quite difficult if your screen isn't big enough for your room (as is nearly always the case where I work).  An option to make the lines thicker is a must-have enhancement that I would like to see in the next version.

Of course, I must mention the 3D aspect of this tool.  This is the key feature that makes your events visible to your audience when a view of the timeline as a whole makes them too small to even be noticed.  They accomplish this by taking the canvas of your timeline and angling it toward the viewer.  Then, as you advance through  your timeline, you move down the length of the canvas stopping at each item as they fly out much like a door.  This can be quite effective as you call out each individual event.  However, this feature still can't save the software from the event range lines that are far too thin.

Another issue that I ran into at work on both the trial and fully registered versions of the software was the duplication of events.  When I went into the bulk edit view (spreadsheet-like option for entering events), each event was duplicated.  This became a problem when exporting the timeline to Quicktime.

Exporting

Exporting is where you get your real use out of this software.  You can export it to email (static image), to certain devices (Apple TV, iPhone, and iPod), to QuickTime, or to Keynote.  When exporting to Quicktime, though you can choose sizes smaller than 480p, it's not advisable.  Anything smaller than 480p is just not readable.  Also note that depending on the size of your timeline, the movies can be really REALLY huge.  I mean monsterous.  This is where the event duplication issue caused problems for me.  It was a timeline with roughly 45 events.  Upon exporting, it processed the events just fine, but when it was done, rendered another 44 phantom events on a completed timeline frozen in time.  This made the movie double the necessary length and had me staring at the portion just a few seconds before the end sequence for half of the length of the movie.  All told, the final movie was 1.6 GB in size.

Exporting to Keynote gives you two options.  The first is static images.  Though this option lacks the dynamic transitions from event to event, it is the most lightweight.  Each fly-out event is represented on a slide in the deck created by Timeline 3D.  Below is an example using my Posterous's RSS feed and the static Keynote export option.

Timeline 3D Demo

Exporting your timeline in movie format produces the best looking product.  The progression of the timeline is smooth and flawless as long as you go forward in time.  That's because each event is given its own slide in your deck as with the static option, but instead of an image, each slide contains a short movie.  This kind of quality and impressive presentation comes at a cost, however.  Each individual movie is saved in a folder named Timeline Exports in your Movies folder.  For the timeline example below, it saved 22 movies totaling 248 MB.  That's pretty unwieldy if you're ever asked to share your deck or if you need to continue working on it on a different machine.

Below is an example using my Posterous's RSS feed and the movie Keynote export option.

The Verdict

This surely doesn't seem like a glowing review.  It certainly has its flaws.  Depending on how you'd use it, those flaws are either pretty minor or deal-killers.  As with all design tools used in creating presentation slides, this one should be used with caution.  Until the major flaws are fixed, think about your audience and the environment (room, projector, screen/monitor).  Is it worth the $65?  Again, it depends.  For some, it's a no-brainer.  For others, it may be best to see what Bee Documents comes up with for version 3.0.  Do I feel that I got my money's worth?  The answer to that would be a qualified "yes."

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25Nov/096

When Visuals Are Just Pointless

I've had to sit though some presentations recently where when it came to visuals, the presenters took cramming information in the audience's face to a whole new level.  One one projector, we had the slide deck and on the other, a demo.  Pretty innocuous there, outside the typical excess text and map shock-laden diagrams.  What the presenter did next was simply amazing.  He pulled the paper away from his easel to reveal three 14" x 11" printouts of PowerPoint slides like the one to the right.

What was amazing wasn't merely that they did this at all (that would have been bad enough).  What took the cake is that he repeated this performance.  He knew we couldn't read it.  He said so himself.  However, he still presented it to his audience as a guide to help explain the slides on projector 1 and the tasks performed on projector 2.

In a previous article, I wrote about a couple large visuals that I created that could not be read, even by myself.  However, it was not meant to be read.  I was after visual impact, demonstrating a large scope of effort.  What  he had on his easel was intended to be a reference for the audience, but in turn ended up merely a pointless distraction.

When using visuals, it goes without saying:  make sure they serve a purpose.  Do you need it to gain the audience's attention?  Do you need it to help tell your story?  Do you need it to help make a point?  If it doesn't fulfill its intended purpose or if it really has no purpose, then leave it out.  Time is limited.  Your audience knows when you're wasting their time.  If they think you're wasting their time, they'll tune you out.

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16Oct/097

Think Outside the Slides

Oh, the last month.  Preparing for a presentation that could determine the fate of a 2+ year long project required a ton of preparation.  When preparing for a presentation of that magnitude, all of the best practices for effective slide design become that much more important.  The hard work of several people over many months was on the line.

Of course, the slides aren't the presentation, but with as much riding on the line as it was, every little detail mattered.  One detail that I had to contend with was how to convey to the audience that we had evaluated 24 products against our requirements.  Most people in my building tend to stop at 3; 5 at most.  We evaluated 24.  The reason was simple:  Ensure we find the best product, period.  Our plan was to be so thorough that when we presented our proposed solution, the forces in the room that wish to default to their favorite company's product won't have an argument to use against us.

So, how do you convey the magnitude of the work we had done?  Many would list the 24 products on the slide.  The problem there is most people would try to read each bullet and in the time that they're spending on that effort, they're not listening to you at all.

Another approach would be put a big 24 on a slide along with "products reviewed against our requirements" in smaller, though legible text.  That approach is better, but I used that on other slides where that would have maximum impact.  What I needed was more punch and creating such a slide would just dilute the impact of that kind of visual.

Instead, what I opted for was a visual that was not on a slide.  What I did was I printed the row in our spreadsheet with all of the names of the products reviewed on our office plotter.  The sheet of paper was 22 inches by 5 feet.  Even then, you had to have the paper right in your face in order to read the text.  Yet that's the thing.  I didn't want any distracted by reading this long list of products.  What I was going for was the visual impact of me holding this monster piece of paper with this list of products we evaluated.

When I was done showing the audience that paper, I placed it on the ground in front of me, out of reach of anyone who might be tempted to pick it up and try to read the list.  Not only would they be distracted, but they'd pass it around the room and I'll have lost everyone.

I didn't stop there.  Oh, no.  I also printed out the matrix of all those 24 products scored against each requirement.  This time, instead of printing in landscape, I printed in portrait mode.  This time, only if you worked at it with the paper in your hands, could you have a hope of reading it.  Again, that didn't matter.  It wasn't meant to be read.  It was meant to be seen.  The visual impact obtained through these two monster print-outs could not have been obtained on a slide.

When it was over, everyone remarked on how thorough we were with this project and I even received comments about how powerful a presentation it was.

When presenting, don't be afraid to mix in some low-tech visuals if it will help you drive your message home.  And to think, I didn't even mention the effect it has refocusing the audience's attention on you.

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4Mar/093

Study: Slides As Handouts Fail

Many of the experts have been saying for quite some time that slides do not work well as handouts.  An end to the practice was even one of my wishes for slide design in 2009.  I have seen the benefits of not having dual-purpose slides, both in comprehension during the presentation and in retention afterwards.

Unfortunately, I have encountered resistance to this approach, some of which can be quite animated or angry in nature.  Well, even if we were foolish enough to ignore the advice of experts, we apparently have research on our side.  Though the research itself was not specifically designed to test the effectiveness of slides as handouts vs. more properly formatted documents per se, it does support two key principles:

  1. Slides can't possibly provide the wealth of information necessary to aid retention of the content, which is the spoken part of the presentation.
  2. Information retention is improved when multiple senses are involved, an impossibility with handouts.

The research was conducted at the State University of New York (SUNY) Fredonia by psychologist Dani McKinney.  Her study suggested that students who downloaded the video podcast, which synchronized the audio of the presentation with the slides, retained the information better than students who received just slides printed as handouts.  The "podcast" students scored an average of 71/100 on a test on the material while the "slideument" students scored an average of 62/100.  Of the podcast students who reviewed the podcast more than once, their average was 77/100.

One detail that was noticed was that handouts served as substitutes for notes.  Given the poor scores received, they were not good notes, either.  The podcast students were able to review the actual content itself and take better notes.  This doesn't mean we need to create video podcasts of our own for our presentations, though if you have the opportunity, it sure couldn't hurt.  However, it does speak to the poor excuse that slide handouts are.  You can't possibly have enough information them to be effective handouts, but you can all too easily have too much information for them to be effective slides.

The other lesson that can be taken away from this study is that information retention is improved when multiple senses are involved, a point made by Dr. John Medina in his book, "Brain Rules."  The slide handouts engage only the visual senses.  A live (or recorded) presentation with well-designed slides engages both sight and hearing, boosting the brain's ability to effectively store the information for later use.  If printed slides themselves could serve as a replacement for the presentation itself, then there would be no need for the school lecture or the office presentation.  However, the "multimedia" (multi-senses) presentation is more effective.

So, what can we do if we can't provide video or audio to our audience after the presenatation?  Well, for starters, don't use slideware (e.g. PowerPoint, Keynote, etc.) to create handouts.  Use a word processing or page layout program to create honest to goodness documents where you use narrative to present your content in written form.  Also, don't forget the visuals that you included in your slides.  There was a reason you used them in the first place.  Don't waste the opportunity to provide the text and visual reinforcement that aids comprehension and retention.  One side benefit of creating this document is that it helps you prepare by practicing your presentation delivery in your mind.  Just don't use it as an alternative to honest to goodness practice.

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